Book of Revenge Read Online Free Page A

He was standing as straight as his giant body would allow. Despite my annoyance, I couldn’t help but smile. I could see the effort in his eyes—his thoughts.
    He was cute.
    My body relaxed, releasing the tension from my pent up emotions. “Yes, Wes. I’d love to.” I loved Vicco’s, and it was the perfect first date with a drive-in feel.
    Wes leaned in, his golden eyes sparkling. “Can I still tell you that I love you?” he whispered.
    I laughed out loud. “I suppose that’s all right.”
    He grinned, giving me a soft, almost-kiss on the lips.
    I cocked my head back. “What was that?” My lips felt neglected, dissed.
    Wes shrugged. “You’ll have to earn a better kiss. I just asked you out, remember? I don’t want to move too fast.” He was being a smart-ass.
    I frowned. “That’s not really what I was trying to say when I said start over.”
    Wes tilted his head, his lips pressed together before answering. “That’s too bad. You should have thought this through. It’s a package deal, so what’s done is done.” He snapped his fingers.
    I ground my teeth together.
    “Allow me to walk you home, my beautiful.” He bowed from the waist like a Shakespearian hero—more like Shakespearian joke.
    I faked a gag. “ Bleck ! Don’t call me that! That’s what Max calls Jane.” My brows knitted together, glaring at him.
    He chuckled. “That’s just the reaction I was looking for.”
    Wes placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me through the bedroom door and into the hall. He walked me home every day as though he were my personal body guard, afraid I’d be abducted in the yard between my house and his. Once we passed the threshold of any space, it was all business, all brawn and attention to detail. Wes was afraid that He would return—though I doubted it. Snake venom tainted my blood, so to Him, I was a big, green Mr. Yuck sticker—He wouldn’t touch me ever again. He simply couldn’t.
    We walked down the stairs, Wes’s watchful eye already on full alert. Until the day Greg was dead, I knew Wes would never relax. We all knew he was still alive because Max was. The best we could do was to pretend Greg was dead, and for now, that was the only way to get through it. Since the incident, none of us had yet mentioned his name out loud, let alone think it as I was now. Chills ran down my spine at the mere skip around the subject. I trembled.
    Wes held onto the pocket of my backpack like a leash, our proximity to the door reason enough to become overly protective. There was a delicate clatter of dishes in the kitchen as we passed. Wes’s foster mother caught my eye, leaning over her old olive-colored dishwasher.
    “Hello, Emily.” Her voice was soft like a whisper.
    “Hello, ma’am.” I’d been told to address Gladys properly. Wes respected the fact that Gladys and her husband had taken him in, despite the enormous dent in their grocery bill.
    She smiled sweetly at Wes, her mind filled with delighted thoughts of me, how I’d changed, and what a relief it was to see us both happy. I laughed to myself, thinking of the days my father spent with Gladys, drinking tea. It comforted me to know that he had endured the same torture of hearing that I had—the same knowing.
    Since Jane had told me about my father’s secret, my whole outlook on life had changed. I was no longer alone. I was no longer afraid of what was happening to me because I finally felt a part of our family—a part of my father. It was normal for me to hear these things, and I was proud of that fact. I’d managed without Vicoden for two weeks now. Drugs had only separated me from the gift my father left me and the giant shoes I was destined to fill. I was embracing what I once loathed. It felt good.
    Wes tilted his head and addressed Gladys, a show of respect he used universally. Grasping the handle of the front door, Wes guided me out onto the porch. I wanted so badly to turn and peck him on the cheek, but I refrained,